PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Jan 29

Jan 29 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

Intesa Sanpaolo repays ECB crisis loan

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Vodafone and Liberty locked in cable war

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Shell to sell stake in pipeline from Houston to Houma

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AO.com aims for 1 billion STG valuation at listing

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Permira in talks to buy controlling stake in Roberto Cavalli

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Overview

Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo has become the country’s first bank to return a sum of 36 billion euros borrowed from the European Central Bank under the long-term refinancing operation or LTRO. The return of the loan shows early signs of growth in the eurozone countries’ economic recovery.

Vodafone and Liberty Global are competing to buy Spain’s largest cable operator, ONO, from its private equity owners. ONO has been planning an initial public offering this year in a bid to capitalise on a wave of investor interest in the increasingly successful cable sector.

Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell wants to sell a stake in a key U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil pipeline for as much as $1 billion and is working with Barclays Plc to solicit offers, according to people familiar with the matter.

British online appliances retailer AO.com is looking at valuing its initial public offering from 1 billion pounds to 1.2 billion pounds in late 2014. Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com is also expected to announce its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange in March for a market value of about 500 million pounds.

Private equity group Permira is said to be in talks to buy a controlling stake in Italian fashion group Roberto Cavalli. However, a deal was not imminent, people with knowledge of the matter said.